and
drinking seemed repulsive, and I could not touch anything. My mind was
busy with the consideration of the duty I had to perform--namely, to
see the destruction of Zara's colossal statue, as she had requested.
After thinking about it for some time, I went to Heliobas and told him
what I had it in charge to do. He listened attentively.

"Do it at once," he said decisively. "Take my Armenians; they are
discreet, obedient, and they ask no questions--with strong hammers they
will soon crush the clay. Stay! I will come with you." Then looking at
me scrutinizingly, he added kindly: "You have eaten nothing, my child?
You cannot? But your strength will give way--here, take this." And lie
held out a small glass of a fluid whose revivifying properties I well
knew to be greater than any sustenance provided by an ordinary meal. I
swallowed it obediently, and as I returned the empty glass to him he
said: "I also have a commission in charge from Zara. You know, I
suppose, that she was prepared for her death?"

"I did not know; but I think she must have been," I answered.

"She was. We both were. We remained together in the chapel all day,
saying what parting words we had to say to one another. We knew her
death, or rather her release, was to occur at some hour that night; but
in what way the end was destined to come, we knew not. Till I heard the
first peals of thunder, I was in suspense; but after that I was no
longer uncertain. You were a witness of the whole ensuing scene. No
death could have been more painless than hers. But let me not forget
the message she gave me for you." Here he took from a secret drawer the
electric stone Zara had always worn. "This jewel is yours," he said.
"You need not fear to accept it--it contains no harm! it will bring you
no ill-fortune. You see how all the sparkling brilliancy has gone out
of it? Wear it, and within a few minutes it will be as lustrous as
ever. The life throbbing in your veins warms the electricity contained
in it; and with the flowing of your blood, its hues change and glow. It
has no power to attract; it can simply absorb and shine. Take it as a
remembrance of her who loved you and who loves you still."

I was still in my evening dress, and my neck was bare. I slipped the
chain, on which hung the stone, round my throat, and watched the
strange gem with some curiosity. In a few seconds a pale streak of
fiery topaz flashed through it, which deepened and glowed into a warm
cri